Corsets and Codpieces: A History of Outrageous Fashion, from Roman Times to the Modern Era

by Karen Bowman

puttees

braccae

Near the end of the Roman Empire the Emperor Honorius (d. 423 BC) prohibited men wearing ‘barbarian’ trousers in Rome, but insisted all Roman prisoners wear the heathen garment as a sign of their subjugation.

Whereas today we easily buy clothing and our recent ancestors were at least able to obtain the ready-made fabrics by which to make them, earlier in history it was case of having to cultivate sheep, the source of your clothing in the first place.

Anglo-Saxon and early medieval clothing was woven out of linen or wool, with the earliest sheep being mostly brown and grey.

After sheep were domesticated, more native white sheep were bred in order to produce more white wool wh...

Needles themselves were extremely valuable, varying in worth from a yearling calf for a common needle to an ounce of silver for an embroidery needle.

all seams were on the inside of the garment except for those made of leather which were sewn on the outside for better weatherproofing.

Inside, as lining, there was usually a layer of smooth linen of a bright, single colour laying to rest the misconception that all Dark Age and Early English clothing was dull and drab.

For many it was considered a strange and magical process, with rules about which days of the week or month were proper dyeing days, with dyers also having a reputation for being herbal healers, since many dyestuffs were also used in folk medicine.

Ultimately, dyeing was considered a woman’s craft, there being an air of taboo about carrying out the ‘alchemistic’ practice in the presence of men.

One ancient word for dyestuffs is ‘ruaman’; the word ‘ruam’ meaning red, a colour obtained from the madder plant, indicating that most dyes were sourced from plants, roots and vegetables.

Popular mordents were iron, which could be obtained from ore and was known to ‘sadden’ colours or make then greyer, as did oak-galls, otherwise growths on plants.

Copper, or the bluish-green patina formed on copper by oxidation and known as verdigris, was common, as well as alum, a sulphate obtained from wood ash, chips of oak or alder wood. In order to fix and ‘brighten’ colours the favourites were burnt seaweed or kelp and lastly urine, which was readily available and collected by women in the mornings and left to grow stale to increase its strength and potency.

Until 1498, when Vasco da Gama opened a trade route from India to Europe to import indigo, blue was commonly produced by fermenting woad leaves.

Mud boiled in an iron pot would produce a very colourfast dull, black dye, the mixture able to produce a glossy black if oak chips or twigs were added.

If a really dark green was desired then mixing weld with sheep dung gave a good depth of colour not to mention smell.

The most highly valued, and noblest, colour of ancient times was purple.

the strongest shade of purple was derived by using molluscs such as murex.

According to Pliny the Elder’s book Historia Naturalis, the process was a long and laborious business involving whelk mucus, honey, salt and water, and long-term heating in a lead vessel.

(on average 1,000 shellfish would yield enough dye for colouring one cloak)

the High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1200) is generally accepted as the time when clothing first began to evolve into what we think of today as fashion.

How we dressed became a means of differentiating between social classes and prompted displays of individualism.

So with the advent of ‘fashion’ came inevitable clothing censorship, and for centuries to come laws would try to contain it while men and women would go to outrageous lengths to re-invent it.

With only a minimum of flesh allowed to be on display, the medieval woman turned her attention to exactly how she could individualise her costume.

Laces proved to be a medieval girl’s best friend,

as once threaded and pulled they contoured otherwise shapeless gowns into a showcase for the curves of breast, hip and thigh.

variation of the cotehardie,

It was referred to as ‘Hell’s Windows’.

Introduced late in the thirteenth century, this style became popular by the second half of the fourteenth century, its deep armholes allowing men to feast their eyes on the shape of a woman’s body beneath.

Such an indecent invitation was deemed so immoral in the eyes of the Church that clergy dubbed the garment ‘Hell’s Windows’ and condemned it from the pulpit.

Equally condemned from on high was a woman’s headwear, hats at this time ...

Pulling off anyone’s hat was considered a crime, while forcibly removing a woman’s headdress was to ...

(from which it is alleged we get the word ‘salute’ due to the hand movement required to raise the visor on a helmet to expose one’s face and so affirm your identity)

The most recognisable headwear of the Middle Ages was large, ornate, sculptured and extremely high.

Originally a Continental style, the hennin originated in Burgundy and became one of the most distinctive forms of headwear worn in human history.

Beginning simply as a stiff cone with the wide end sat on the crown of the head, the point jutted up and slightly back. Over time the cone got longer and longer, reaching upwards of 4ft, and keeping the steeple headdress on the head was no easy matter.

To add to this ever upward illusion it became fashionable to show no hair beneath the steeple headdress, so women plucked their hair up to the line of the headdress.

A fantastical variation on this theme was the ‘ram’s horn’ headdress, its name deriving from the two sculpted ‘horns’ that stuck out from either side of the temple.

Again, these curved cones were constructed of wire mesh that was secured to a snug-fitting skullcap. Thin, gauzy veils could be hung from the ends or were draped between the horn...

It was also a favourite pastime to demonise the fashion with one artist using the hennin to symbolise evil in his particular portrayal of the age-old subject of the Temptaion of St Anthony.

On the other hand, the wimple, also spelled ‘whimple’, was a completely different story. Coming from a word meaning ‘to flow in wavelets’, it was a very modest head covering for women from as early as AD 500.

It continued to be a mainstay of women’s fashion up until the 1500s as it was customary for married women to cover their hair as a sign of modesty.

The wimple and veil combination was an excellent headdress for displaying respectability, and was greatly favoured by the Church since it covered everything except a woman’s face and especially a woman’s ears.

Strange though it may seem, there was a train of thought at the time that believed that the Virgin Mary conceived the Christ child Jesus through her ears.

The wimple is still today the most recognised part of a nun’s habit and still covers the ears.

The controversy behind The Girl With The Pearl Earring - she is wearing a wimple, but her ear is exposed!

Just as in Roman times, hair was a symbol of both status and sex and as the thickness and condition alluded to a woman’s fertility,

In medieval strict Orders women wore totally undyed woollen garments to proclaim their poverty and so their clothing would be a greyish white, sometimes even brown.

The ordinary medieval woman was, however, a far more colourful character, literally. Even the humble peasant had colourful clothing.

Dyes were common and came from different sources, some more expensive than others.